- Details
- Hits: 7470
1. Try Editing Your Novel with a Fresh Mind and Eyes
Depending on how long it took you to write your novel, you may want to put it away for a few days or weeks. This helps you "forget" what you've written so that you can look at the text with a fresh set of eyes. This can help you catch more errors than if you'd simply scrolled to the top and started editing right after typing THE END.
2. Consider Using Beta Readers
Being close to your novel for a long time will sometimes make it impossible to look at it from the reader’s perspective. Therefore, it is a good idea to find some people you trust so as to read the novel for you and then send you suggestions on how to improve it. They could be your writing or editing partners. Try avoiding family or friends as your beta readers. You can do this in exchange for a favor which might go a long way in motivating your beta readers.
- Details
- Hits: 7607
Did you know that the term writer’s block was first coined in 1947 by Austrian psychoanalyst, Edmund Bergler? The condition refers to a significant slowdown in writing productivity or the inability to produce new work. In severe cases, the writer or author may not write anything for weeks, months and even years. Famous authors who experienced writer’s block at some point during the course of their writing careers include Herman Melville, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Wolf and Joseph Mitchell. The good news about writer’s block is that it can be overcome, and you can regain your writing productivity, even if you haven’t written anything in quite a while.
Read more: How to Overcome Writer’s Block and Maintain Your Writing Productivity During a Crisis
- Details
- Hits: 7328
Are you wondering if you should get a line edit along with your developmental edit? To help you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth, many editors will package various types of editing together then charge a reduced rate for both services, but is it a good idea? To help you decide, it’s important to understand each editing type and how it helps improve your work.
Read more: Should your developmental edit contain a line edit?
- Details
- Hits: 7626
Choosing the best writing software for your needs doesn’t mean that software is always going to work for you or the particular novel you’re writing. For that reason, don’t be afraid to change software mid-novel or even mid-draft. The minute you realize your novel writing software is the reason you’re not making progress, switch to a different one. I have four pieces of software that I switch between, including Novelize, LibreOffice, Google Docs and Bibisco.
Read more: Don't Let your writing software be the reason you don't finish your novel
- Details
- Hits: 7218
Once you’ve completed your book and performed the last content edit to check for plot holes, flow, punctuation and sentence structure, there’s still one more edit that you should perform prior to publishing your book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo. This absolute last edit before formatting and publishing your book ensures that your sentences are tight and word redundancy is minimal.
Read more: Tips on Performing Your Final Book Edit Before Formatting and Publication